Global Art Classroom: Dispatches from Abroad

For the final three weeks of the spring term, Global Art Classroom left its base in the U.S. for the historic streets, cafes, museums, and parks of Europe’s artistic hubs. The works students had studied on a screen were suddenly in front of them, in the churches and galleries. Sophie ’27 and Fiona ’26 close out the term with two dispatches – Sophie from Florence, where she and a classmate brought their watercolors to the rose gardens and tried to paint through a thunderstorm, and Fiona from Vienna, a city she had visited once before and found, the second time, felt like home.

Life in Florence: Paintings, Puddles, and Pho

Sophie ’27

The train ride from Rome to Florence is not a particularly long one. Once we arrive in Florence, we only need to walk a few hundred feet to get to our hotel, and climb around four floors of stairs (or take the elevator) to get to the front desk. 

We get a short period of reset before we’re back out in the city, heading to the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. On the way we’re greeted with an obelisk (yay!), the first one since Hazel's and my obelisk hunt in Rome. It’s a little small, but it's the first obelisk we’ve seen in Florence. I’d rate it a solid 6/10. Apparently, there are three in Florence, but I’m not given long to ponder the location of the other two before we arrive at the basilica and its accompanying piazza. It’s only for a moment that I’m able to admire the remainder of the Florentine obelisks before we enter the church. Inside the basilica, there are several frescoes with corresponding tombs built into the walls. One painting in particular stands out, as we saw it in class: Masaccio’s Holy Trinity. We had learned about its use of linear perspective and the location of its vanishing point in class, but while I had enjoyed it on the screen, it's even better in person. Afterward, we take some time to explore the rest of the basilica, and I see a panel painting by Giotto (I did a presentation on one of his works in Tucson) of a crucified Christ. Eventually, the church starts to close, and we file out into the piazza.

 
I finally get the chance to take a closer look at the piazza’s obelisks as we wait next to one for a short while. Although they’re still rather small, there are two of them in close proximity. And they have turtles.  I’d give them an 8/10 for the turtles alone, but the little metal reptiles struggle under the immense weight of the obelisks, unable to escape their burden. They deserve better, and as a result, I have to give them a 2/10 for animal cruelty (obelisks have a coolness factor that prevents them from getting a lower rating). 

Afterward, we get dinner out and then some delicious gelato before returning to the hotel for the night. When we go to bed, the weather is nothing more than overcast. It doesn’t stay that way.

It’s soggy streets and short showers that announce our second day in Florence. We prepare for rain at the behest of the weather app, but luckily remain fairly dry on our walk to meet our tour guide. Unfortunately, our dryness does not last long. Soon enough, the clouds once again struggle to make up their mind between drops, drizzles, and legitimate rain.  As the sky above deals with its own uncertainty, we get to see buildings previously occupied or commissioned by the Medici family and learn more about the history of Florence.

However, by the time we get to the Duomo (aka Florence’s Cathedral), the clouds have decided that maybe pouring rain would be a good idea. As a result, our group ducks against the buildings and does our best to stay dry as we listen. Soon enough, we’re back on the move, with the rain letting up slightly. We get to see the Piazza della Signoria and a replica of the David before eventually ending our tour by the Arno River. 

Hazel and I go and get some food before returning to the hotel to change. I switch out my poorly chosen sandals for my sneakers, hoping that they might provide a bit more protection between my feet and the swamp that has become the street. We wander aimlessly for a short while before checking out a leather shop recommended to us by Laura and Amy (this time with the aid of an umbrella). It’s a bit crowded, so we decide to leave for the time being and find a good spot to paint. The Arno had been beautiful in the morning, so we head there first. Unfortunately, it’s grown rather gray in the past hour so we decide to cross along the Ponte Vecchio instead. We take a moment to consider our next move before beginning the long trek up to the rose gardens.

The journey is long. 
The journey is wet. 
Eventually, we make it. We find a semi-covered area to paint under. 
The rain is relentless. 
We bring out our watercolors.
Thunder booms in the distance.
We try to paint anyway.

When we finally arrive in the alcove of our hotel later that day, neither of us has the desire to be wet again. If we want to get dinner, we ought to do it before we get dry again. Neither of us wants to leave our little shelter, so we stop and get takeout at the pho place next door. It's only a few short steps back out in the rain before we've arrived in our hotel room. We take our food to the lobby, where we ate just that morning, and we enjoy our warm food by the window. 

Perhaps tomorrow will be drier. 
Perhaps tomorrow, we’ll be able to avoid a few more puddles. 

Perhaps tomorrow, if the clouds have made up their mind for another storm, we can have pho once more and laugh about painting in the rain instead of washing away our own work. At least today, in this moment, we can begin to shed some of the cold clinging to us like our soaked clothes and know that this day won’t be our last in this colorful, soggy, beautiful city.

Feeling at Home in Vienna

Fiona ’26

We’re now in Vienna! I have been to Vienna once before with my family a few years ago, and even on my second visit, it does not disappoint. On day one, we took a tour with a woman named Ana who lives in Vienna, and she explained to us that for multiple years in a row, not that long ago, Vienna was voted the city with the highest quality of life. After spending time here before and now, I understand why. 

Whether we are viewing artworks by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Raphael, or Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, or simply strolling through the streets and taking in the architecture, Vienna feels almost like a work of art itself. Even though as Americans, we may not be offered the free tap water, or we may be scolded when walking on the wrong side of the sidewalks, I don't feel like an outsider here. Maybe that's due to the cold temperatures like at home, or that I've already been here with my family once, but I do feel much more at home here and am sad to be leaving.

Read More Student Reflections from Global Art Classroom